Good, clean aroma. Tropical hops are in no short supply. Grapefruit rind, pineapple (which is more appreciable whilst cold), tangerine and orange peel. Spot of juiciness and a little hint of pine resin. The one downside is that the hops don't punch hard. Not too malty - slightly toasty with some sugar cookie.

If the Amarillo takes the aroma, the Simcoe figures in more prominently in terms of taste. This is reflected in the flavors being not quite as clean as the aroma. Tastes fine, just a little denser. Grapefruit, a citric pithy/peely blend and some pine. Very dry. Reasonable bitterness but not overly so. Toasted malts and a hint of dry bread.

Medium-light body; it has an almost wispy feel. A mild slickness precedes a finely gritty finish. Enjoyably low carbonation. Dry finish with residual hops and bread.

I can dig it. Not excellent but I would like to revisit (perhaps on tap someday). I could go for more of a spicy kick. Regardless, worth a shot.

More User Reviews:

4.5/5 rDev +4.9%

Thanks to BungleTrpg for including as an extra in a recent trade. I have only had Nelson, previously, from Alpine. Psyched to try Duet as Simcoe and Amarillo are two of my favorite hops to use in homebrewing (disclosure: I'm a terrible home brewer).

Nose is pure Amarillo hops...if I had to guess I would say they used a bazillion pounds of Amarillo for dry-hopping per barrel. Citrus on citrus on citrus. Reminded me a little bit of Victory Hop Ranch.

The beer tastes as good as it smells. Really crisp and clean. Not overly bitter. Nice dry finish, but not one that leaves you asking for a glass of water.

Sun-drenched Sunkist orange with lemon peel highlights. Fine streams of bubbles disappear into the underside of a two finger cap that is darker than ivory and lighter than sandstone. The foam is crazy sticky and is blanketing the glass with some of the finest lace that I've seen in quite some time.

The aroma earns a perfect score because each sniff results in a glorious blast of two of my favorites, Simcoe and Amarillo. Pineapple and pink grapefruit and orange and mango... oh my! This is pure hop juice in the finest sense of the phrase. Malt is not missed.

According to the label, Duet is so named because the two hops are 'in harmony'. One large gulp tells me that Alpine hit the American IPA target in the exact center of the bull's eye. This offering is perfectly situated between the brewery's APA (Alpine Ale) and their DIPA (Pure Hoppiness).

One minor quibble is that more malt would have given the hops a more sturdy launching pad. Their bitter yin would have been even more impressive with a slightly sweeter yang for contrast. As a result, this brew is more of a big APA than a small DIPA, if one chooses to compare it to the styles on either side.

The orange color means that something darker than pale malt is present. There may be a hint of toasted malt, but it's barely perceptible. The flavor profile is dominated by two of the finest American hops in existence. Flavors mirror aromas, pretty much, and Amarillo is marginally more aggressive. That's too bad because I would have preferred the opposite.

The mouthfeel takes a hit because of the shortage of malt sugars. This is the place where the beer feels most like an APA. It's smooth and is nicely carbonated, but any amount of viscosity and/or silky creaminess would have been welcome.

Alpine Duet is pretty close to an ideal IPA from my perspective. It would most likely get there with 50% more pale malt, 25% more hops and a higher Simcoe to Amarillo ratio. Anyone who lives in ABC's distribution area is extremely fortunate. Two thumbs up.

After enjoying Alpine's Nelson so much, I was overjoyed to be able to finally try this one. It pours a hazy orange color with some goldenrod highlights around the shimmering edges. The cloudy, white head settles nicely and sits on top of the brew looking chunky and fat, leaving behind some good clumps of lacing on the glass. Very nice unfiltered look; great for an IPA.

Duet's namesake is beautifully displayed in the aroma, as you can pick out the big contributions from the hop duet right away. Big-time nectarines, mangoes, pineapple, with mild undertones of citrus, likely from the Amarillo, with the wet, dank, pungent and piney side from the Simcoe. They form a beautifully harmonious union with the tropical explosion versus the raw, dank hoppage. A tropic palooza in the middle of an oily, hemp jungle.

Leading off is a strong dose of pine; why hello there, Simcoe! There's also a seemingly larger bout of tropical fruits right out of the gate; mangoes, orange, a touch of peach maybe. The taste, just like the aroma, exhibits great synergy by having perfectly even amounts of each hop - you've got the weedy, danky, hop oils thrashing the left side of your tongue while the tropical-fest of mangoes and papaya tears up the right side.

There's a pretty brash and bitter finish, more bitter in the finish than Nelson, and I'm going to guess that much of the finishing bitterness here is from Simcoe. There's a slight maltiness somewhere between toasted bread and caramel that never gets overly sweet, something that often ruins heavily hopped beers. Alpine knows what they're doing, though, and doesn't beat around the bush - Duet was meant to showcase the hops, and it does just that.

Duet is super crisp and drinkable, and I think it's carbonated a little better than Nelson and feels a little more lively on the palate (this could also be noted from the superior head formation and retention as compared to Nelson). It's not quite as sticky or resinous on the palate, rather it's kind of cutting at a rolling boil on my tongue and it really helps the hops shine.

Wow, another fantastic IPA from Alpine. Beautiful West Coast hops in a bottle; great balance of weedy pines and tropical fruit. This one's not quite as "juicy" as Nelson, and I think I prefer it slightly less, but that's like saying I couldn't go to Harvard and "settled" for Yale. Drinking beers like this make me sad I can't readily get them in the Midwest, because this is another truly fantastic and drinkable IPA.

12oz bottle. Pours a slightly hazed golden with a foamy head and sticky lace.

Soft nose of orange, pine and breadiness.

Light-bodied, but there's a slight chew and smoothness to the feel. Carbonation is crisp upfront. Quite hoppy, but incredibly balanced. Malt profile is bready, sort of doughy even, with a touch of sweetness, but overall very dry. Hop profile folds layers of juicy orange, ripe melon flesh, pine resin, spice and cedar on the palate. Finish is dry, herbal, ashy and lingers.

Duet is a solid example of what a West Coast IPA was over a decade ago, what's followed and how nice it is to come back to one that's not overly assertive. It's all about balance, drinkability and hop flavor.

Definitely not the same since Green Flash. Very mediocre IPA. Has a generic IPA feel to it. The aroma isn't great, mild at best. It's a real shame. This was one of my favorite IPAs in the past. I keep hoping that GF will get it together and do this beer justice, but no, just no. Won't buy another GF Alpine beer. A real shame

A symphony of hops! The Amarillo and Simcoe work so well together and the aroma is so incredibly light and floral. So easily drinkable it's difficult to take your time with it. I am happy that Alpine has finally come to Chicago!

L: Poured from a bottle to a pint glass. Had a golden yellow color and a slightly hazy consistency. There was an inch of foamy, fairly long-lasting head. Very good lacing.

S: A big, sweet aroma of tropical fruit, citrus, and lots of hops.

T: Tasted of a moderate amount of hops, some citrus (orange and lemon), a hint of malt, light tropical fruit (mango, passion fruit, pineapple), and a little bit of pine as well. An incredibly fruity flavor that's very well balanced. Hoppy, but also fruity. Quite tasty.

F: A well-carbonated beer with a smooth finish. Medium-bodied.

O: Alpine's specialty is IPAs, and Duet is an example of this. Well made and drinkable all around.

In true "west-coast" style, Alpine's duet claims a true taste of the vernacular with a dry caramel backbone that's completely dominated by grassy and fruity bitterness.

The beer pours a mainly bright golden amber hue that's only kept from brilliance because of its dry-hopped haze. As its cottony white head billows above, its persistent honeycomb pattern lasts until the final sip and laces the glass strongly with intricate and concentric character at every drink.

Boastfully aromatic, its perfume of citrus and herb rests on red grapefruit, mandarin, pineapple and apricot early and then fresch-cut grass, chive and a back note of cannabis. all this transpires on an armature of thin caramel, graham cracker and fructose-type of tangy sweetness.

Its taste greets the early palate with that wafer thing honey and caramel melange with a light pep of gingersnap beneath. But once the fruit-flavors start, there's no turning back. Juicy, vibrant and fully ripened, the citrusy, tropical and orchard fruit character is mouthwatering and highly refreshing. As the hops trend bitter and earthen, the fruit pulp turns to pith and peel while reeling in the grassy, herbaceous and resinous flavors that grip the gullet with bitterness and bite.

While juicy and creamy to start, the beer makes quick work of its structure and nose-dives into a dry-malt scaffold that supports the clean and piquant bittering. Its effortless finish lingers on with citrus and leaf as its slim warmth goes largely unnoticed.

Duet is a beautiful waltz of Simcoe and Amarillo hop variants- each complementing the deficiencies of the other to near perfection. With just enough sweetness in support, the hops dance on the tongue with delight.

Don't know why I do it to myself, but I keep going back to GF brewed Alpine each time I see a new fresh batch. I keep hoping the Alpine IPAs I know and love show up. And each time I get so disappointed. Half of me didn't want to review this swill out of respect for a killer brewery--but hey: if you put your name on crap, that's on you.

And this is crap. From a 12 oz bottle, pours with a tiny head that immediately dissipates. Highly filtered, golden amber. Minimal hop aroma, despite being 5.5 months ahead of the best by date. So this is fresh. Minimal mouth coating hop resin. Sweet, like a poorly built pale ale. And all around just boring. This is not Alpine as Alpine should be.

pours a clear orange with standard sudsy, soapy head
nose is intense -- candied oranges, candied lemons, apricot?, some floral sharpness
taste is a different can of worms -- floral bitterness and dryness tries to meld with the aforementioned candied citrus, the nose and first half of the taste are so fruity and sweet, yet the sharpness of the dry, floral finish is practically dominant. I have to say that the overall taste is sharply floral yet confused by the intense fruity sweetness of the first whiff.
Body is palpable right in the middle, as there is no dropoff throughout the quaff -- it could want to be "thick" but the dryness of the finish kicks that notion to the curb.
Carb is notably above average, as the easy-sweet nose is totally forgotten by the time you finish each nearly-fizzy florally bitter sip.
I find this ale notable for it's unique candied-citrus nose. I also find it amazing that the full taste and finish are so opposite of that. There's no cloudy-cloying fruit-blandness here, even though the nose suggests all of that ---- what jumps out, and remains, is a sharply floral-finishing medium-bodied beer that just leaves a reminder of some orange-y sweetness behind in its wake. To my taste, it's kind of the converse of Sculpin, which smells a light floral pine with hints of citrus, yet tastes with a kick of honey-pineapple that wasn't there in the nose ....... good stuff, I certainly bow down to the complexity here, yet the effect is moderately off-putting for my particular palate.

Pours into an impy nonic a clear a clear honey-like color with a tight formed half finger frothy white head atop.Tangerine,overripe pineapple,and leafy hops over top of a sugary malt base.Great hop complexity on the palate,tangerine,orange,pineapple,and slight grassiness,a sugary slightly doughy malt base is there thru the finish.A great hop complexity to this IPA,as good as advertised.

Appearance - This poured a nice brownish-orange in color with a white head that rose up nicely and left some good lacing.

Smell - The hops here are very raw and fresh. The site says Simcoe and Amarillo but I swear this is a monster and nothing like other beers I've had using just one or both of these hops. The pine is all over the place almost completely drowning out the orangish aromas that you'd expect from the hop combination. Also, in the truest sense of the style, there is little malt to the nose.

Taste - Again, this is pure to the style. The malt is very much in the background of this flavor profile. The hops are incredibly fresh, almost like it's dry-hopped, and offer just enough orange sweetness to smooth out the raw edge to this beer.

Mouthfeel - This medium-bodied IPA is incredibly smooth considering the massive hop flavors and is just slightly dry.

Drinkability - The lack of a giant dry finish keeps this IPA going down like water. This is easily one of the smoothest most drinkable "big hop" IPAs that I've ever had.